I’ve been in work now for over 6 months down and this sadly neglected blog has been calling my name a lot lately again… For so long I’ve been too mentally and physically exhausted to be able to compose my thoughts and formulate a post. However I’m now settling and starting to feel more confident in my work, less exhausted and less stressed/ bewildered/ terrified.
The transition from being a student to newly qualified was extremely difficult and traumatic. As a student I only ever held approximately 5 cases and my hand was held all the way- I was totally protected from any overall responsibility and given supervision every week. I had plenty of time to think and reflect, theory was an everyday concept and time was freely available. Then overnight I had a far bigger and more complex caseload, supervision once every month- 6 weeks, total responsibility and accountability for decisions that have a huge impact on people’s lives, and time to reflect or think theory has become a very rare commodity (if not extinct!)
There is an NQSW scheme intended to smooth the transition between student and qualified status, hopefully avoiding drastic mistakes and reducing the numbers of new social workers leaving the profession quickly due to stress and burnout. It entitles NQSWs to a ‘protected’ caseload (smaller/ less complex), extra supervision and additional time for peer support, reflection and study. In my experience however, it took 4 months for me to be ever placed on the scheme, has been very confusing and requires the completion of a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate that you are meeting certain standards. I haven’t received extra supervision or a protected caseload, but do get a 3 hour ‘mentoring’ session ever 6 weeks with the other NQSWs in the authority (generally an opportunity to have a gripe about how bad things are and share tea and sympathy).
Although the ideas behind the scheme are laudable, I really feel that it needs to be re-designed. The transition to qualified status needs to be made smoother and less stressful, but without the addition of extra work at a time when getting to grips with new policies, procedures, computer systems, responsibilities, managing a full caseload is all so mind-boggling anyway. Compiling a portfolio is fine as a student when you only 5 or so cases, but not as an NQSW when you suddenly have sole responsibility for 4 times as many and so many other things to learn as well. Making the extra supervision/ protected caseload a statutory requirement would be far more useful, although this would be more difficult for employers and perhaps result in increased reluctance to employ NQSWs.
On a positive note however, after 6 months I feel more confident now in my role and abilities and don’t feel like I’m sinking every day. I no longer come home and agonise over whether social work is for me and no longer have quite the same continuous nagging sense of fear. I feel like a valued member of my team and have noticed in recent weeks that I’m no longer the one always asking questions of other colleagues- new staff ask me now and I’m actually able to answer correctly too!
I’m still spinning plates on sticks, but it’s getting easier!
I found the NQSW scheme to be nothing but time consuming nonsense. I don’t need to waste time completing a portfolio when I am learning other new skills on the job all the time.
I guess it’s for people who are borderline acceptable at their role? It was heavily focused on child protection, an area I don’t work in… despite working with children and families. I was actively encouraged to “stretch” case descriptions to meet the criteria – who is that helping?
Anyway, mine is still sat untouched… nobody has asked me for it and my manager is too busy offloading more cases onto me to have time to even look at it.
I agree wholeheartedly with you, but in our authority it is linked to the PQ system so that you have to complete the NQSW portfolio before you can do your PQ1 and progress up the increment scale.
The authority has recently reviewed the way the scheme works and cut down the actual work involved in it now for us, linking it more to evidence provided during supervision discussions and reducing the amount of additional paperwork, which is making it less burdensome and more approachable.
The outcome statements apply to any field of social work though, as they are skill based rather than specific to one field- I work in a fostering team not child protection, and have had no difficulty in finding evidence to demonstrate my competence for each one so far. Once I set my mind to it, I’ve almost finished the portfolio based upon the amount of work I’ve done in the last 9 months.
[…] And Spinning Plates updates us on her first six months as a social worker. […]
Its daunting to know I have this all ahead of me and that the doubts of weather or not social work is for me are going to come, but at the same time its so good to hear that these fears do seem to be universal and can be overcome. I just wish the support wasn’t so drastically cut in the transition.
Enjoyed the post.